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Kento Post View CounterWordPress extension · Kentothemes

CVE-2016-15040

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-10-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.8 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The Kento Post View Counter plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to SQL Injection via the 'kento_pvc_geo' parameter in versions up to, and including, 2.8 due to insufficient escaping on the user supplied parameter and lack of sufficient preparation on the existing SQL query. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to append additional SQL queries into already existing queries that can be used to extract sensitive information from the database.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The Kento Post View Counter WordPress plugin versions up to 2.8 contains an unauthenticated SQL injection vulnerability via the 'kento_pvc_geo' parameter. The plugin fails to properly escape user input and lacks prepared statements, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary SQL queries and extract sensitive data from the database.

MitigationUpgrade to the latest version of the Kento Post View Counter plugin immediately. If no patched version is available, deactivate and remove the plugin until a fix is released.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Kento Post View CounterWordPress extension
Affected:<= 2.8

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Kento Post View Counter plugin is installed
    Check your WordPress site's wp-content/plugins/ directory for a folder named 'kento-post-view-counter' or similar. Also check in WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed Plugins.
    Affected if The plugin folder exists in the plugins directory regardless of activation status indicates potential exposure.
  2. Check installed plugin version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and find 'Kento Post View Counter' or 'Kentothemes Kento Post View Counter'. The version number is displayed under the plugin name. Alternatively, check the main plugin PHP file (usually kento-post-view-counter.php) for the 'Version' header in the plugin comment block.
    Affected if Version 2.8 or any version listed as '<= 2.8' means the plugin is affected by this vulnerability.
  3. Confirm plugin activation status
    In WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed Plugins, check if Kento Post View Counter shows as 'Active' or 'Activated'.
    Affected if If the plugin is activated, the unauthenticated SQL injection vulnerability is actively exploitable.
  4. Identify vulnerable parameter exposure
    The vulnerability exists in the 'kento_pvc_geo' parameter. Check your site access logs for any requests containing this parameter, especially from external sources. You can also test by making a simple GET or POST request to any page on your site with 'kento_pvc_geo=test' and observing if it triggers any errors or unexpected behavior.
    Affected if If the parameter is processed without error (or with SQL errors), the vulnerable code path is active.

Your site is affected if the Kento Post View Counter plugin is installed at version 2.8 or lower and the plugin is activated, allowing unauthenticated attackers to inject SQL via the kento_pvc_geo parameter.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.8
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to the latest version of the Kento Post View Counter plugin immediately. If no patched version is available, deactivate and remove the plugin until a fix is released.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Kento Post View Counter version 2.9 or later

  1. 1. Backup your WordPress database and files before making any changes
  2. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins in the WordPress admin dashboard
  3. 3. Locate the Kento Post View Counter plugin
  4. 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to install the latest version
  5. 5. If no update is available from the WordPress repository, manually download the plugin from a trusted source and reinstall
  6. 6. Verify the plugin is updated to version 2.9 or higher
  7. 7. Test that post view counting functionality works correctly after the update
Caveat Review plugin settings after upgrade as minor configuration changes may occur

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Kento Post View Counter Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-15040 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data